A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrated that the rich in the United States live, on average, 15 years longer than the poor, that there is considerable community variation in lower income life expectancy and that the rich/poor life expectancy gap has been increasing.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to U.S. healthcare, has committed $500 million over the next 10 years to expand efforts in cities across the country to ensure that all children can grow up at a healthy weight.

City Manager Sheryl Sculley released a statement via email Wednesday evening detailing the “personnel matter” cited as cause for the dismissal of Metropolitan Health District Director Dr. Thomas Schlenker: “his lack of leadership, continued disregard for direction and repeated instances of unprofessional conduct.”

On Saturday afternoon in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center auditorium, under pulsing lights, to the sound of pounding backbeats and the frenzied cheers of family and friends, the winners of the H-E-B Slim Down Showdown were awarded $32,500 in prizes for their combined efforts of building healthy living habits, losing weight, and becoming health advocates.